- Other lady (who admittedly is a bit off) who we've encountered at least four times, who continually tells me how big her baby is. Yesterday, she asked how old F is. When I said she was 5 months (the same as her child who Freya could squash like a bug), she suddenly changed her mind and decided to tell me how he started crawling at four months and "isn't your baby crawling yet?" Sigh.

Something similar happened to me yesterday. The cashier at the supermarket asked me how old my daughter was. She was commenting on the fact that F. was sitting in her stoller in a very awkward position. I said we chose that position because she couldn't sit properly yet but didn't want to lay down any longer. The cashier looked at me weirdly and said. "My kid could sit when he was 7 months." And then told me that he could crawl at that age and walk a month later. I said "I know. My kid is such a loser." That shut her up immediately.

This made me laugh, what a great response from you! I am totally going to remember it!

Some FB friend of my husband's (not an IRL friend) commented on a picture of Leela that most babies can sit unassisted at 3 months and by 6 months are already walking, so we should have her evaluated because she is developmentally delayed, our friends just don't want to tell us.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

That's so insane! I also think a lot of people misremember, maybe to try to keep up with everyone else who makes shiitake up. poopiebaby couldn't sit unassisted until he was 8 months old, and didn't crawl properly until 9 months. When people start to play the "my baby did such and such first" game, I go the opposite direction and sometimes tell them he didn't sit on his own until last week.

I'm so glad someone FINALLY spoke up about Leila's inadequacies. We've all been so worried about her, Tofulish! (Geez.)

Ezra never learned to crawl (he went right to walking at 10 months), and some people made such a big deal about it. Even after he was walking, people would say, "But can he CRAWL?!" and told us that we should get him checked out since he "missed such a serious milestone." Seriously? I'm just happy he figured out some sort of forward motion so that I don't have to cart him off to college in the Ergo!

I'm so glad someone FINALLY spoke up about Leila's inadequacies. We've all been so worried about her, Tofulish! (Geez.)

Ezra never learned to crawl (he went right to walking at 10 months), and some people made such a big deal about it. Even after he was walking, people would say, "But can he CRAWL?!" and told us that we should get him checked out since he "missed such a serious milestone." Seriously? I'm just happy he figured out some sort of forward motion so that I don't have to cart him off to college in the Ergo!

Oh no, you should be really worried; I know a seventeen year old who never crawled and because of it the muscles in her arms get tired very easily.

_________________An unprocessed chicken is walking around and clucking to itself. And yes, I think they're healthier that way too. - Tofulish

Yikes. One of the few things I feel really confident about as a parent is knowing what's appropriate developmentally. 20ish years working with under 5s gives you a good sense of what's in the realm of normal and what's troubling. There are things that I say to Karl that I want to "keep an eye on" with Bean (she like hardly ever rolls over, for instance), but overall I think she's just swell. :D She's into the screeching phase now (which Pappa loves at 5:15 a.m.). I asked my neighbor today if she could hear her now, as she's insisted that she hasn't heard a peep before. She did admit to hearing her now, but at least it's usually only during daytime hours.

Can I take you to my MIL next time I have to see her? She's the queen of misremembering and has no forking clue about appropriate development. She probably also thinks she gets a prize for telling us about her own children (my partner included) who were so great and could basically go to college at six months. Whenever my partner tells her about our daughter's latest developments, all she has to contribute is: " you were able to do this at three months." or she tells us about someone else's kid who was able to walk at eight months or say "hase" ( rabbit) at eight months or whatever. She even told me that my partner started speaking in whole sentences. I know I should ignore her but I wish she could just appreciate her only grandchild and sometimes share our exitement. I don't care when she starts to sit or walk or whatever. She's perfect the way she is and her development is totally normal./sorry for this rant

Yikes. One of the few things I feel really confident about as a parent is knowing what's appropriate developmentally. 20ish years working with under 5s gives you a good sense of what's in the realm of normal and what's troubling. There are things that I say to Karl that I want to "keep an eye on" with Bean (she like hardly ever rolls over, for instance), but overall I think she's just swell. :D She's into the screeching phase now (which Pappa loves at 5:15 a.m.). I asked my neighbor today if she could hear her now, as she's insisted that she hasn't heard a peep before. She did admit to hearing her now, but at least it's usually only during daytime hours.

Eh. Walter could not roll in any direction until 6 months. He is fine now and running. Rolling is overrated. :)

I'm just happy he figured out some sort of forward motion so that I don't have to cart him off to college in the Ergo!

Oh no, you should be really worried; I know a seventeen year old who never crawled and because of it the muscles in her arms get tired very easily.

Its true. His mother has to carry his books for him and feed him sandwiches. The good news is that you can get many more years of use out of the Ergo.

What is with MILs telling you that their children could have gone to college at 6 months? My MIL has one "brilliant" son who apparently was so smart he would end up teaching the teachers from the time he was in elementary school and everyone loved him for being such a prodigy. She one-upped me through my entire pregnancy, which irritated the crepe out of me. Even before I had Leela she'd always one-up other mothers,-she even told me that she thinks that most other mothers don't like their children, unlike her.

I really feel for you Mihl! I can't understand why she can't just appreciate the moment and share your excitement and not have to one-up her own grandchild!

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

Hugs for all the mamas suffering from MILs/strangers/everyone comparing developmental milestones. I figure I barely remember what my kids were up to a month ago, these people whose photographic memory abilities begin and end with their kid's baby steps... I have my doubts.

_________________Gwyneth Paltrow: "I'm superstitious. Whenever I start a new movie I kill a hobo with a hammer."

Mihi, I wonder if people who do this are just really insecure about their parenting skills. It's kinda funny, because a lot of this stuff doesn't really have anything to do with what the parents do....it just happens. Now, you can make things easier or harder with how you carry or position babies or whether you read to them, etc. but mostly I think it's the babies working hard.

@mitten..I"m not overly concerned or anything, but I do find it curious that at two days shy of 6 months, she's rolled over just a very few times. It's sorta one of those things where I'm trying to determine if it's just because she doesn't like to do so (which is peachy) or that she can't/is uncomfortable is some way. Right now, she's mostly content to sit up straight and lunge at things/people she desires. Heh.

Refinnej, for what it's worth-- the Emperor pretty much didn't roll. He hit all his other milestones pretty normally. (he still can't jump at almost 3, but whatever.)

I was talking with another second time mom about forgetting when milestones happen earlier. She has a six week old and was like, "she just started smiling last week an I thought, boy that's early. Don't they usually smile at like... Six months?" and then she laughed so hard when she realized how ridiculous that would be. We allllll forget baby stuff over time. I wrote down all of E's milestones, otherwise I'd have no idea when the hell he did anything.

I'm so glad someone FINALLY spoke up about Leila's inadequacies. We've all been so worried about her, Tofulish! (Geez.)

Ezra never learned to crawl (he went right to walking at 10 months), and some people made such a big deal about it. Even after he was walking, people would say, "But can he CRAWL?!" and told us that we should get him checked out since he "missed such a serious milestone." Seriously? I'm just happy he figured out some sort of forward motion so that I don't have to cart him off to college in the Ergo!

Oh no, you should be really worried; I know a seventeen year old who never crawled and because of it the muscles in her arms get tired very easily.

Oh, he can't pick up anything with his arms! They're like two pale, wet noodles hanging off his body! I always contributed this to the fact he's vegan, but this makes SO much more sense!

My mom can't remember any of my milestones which is so annoying. I'd like to have some idea of when things might happen, especially like teeth. With babynut, she does the opposite of saying she is behind or delayed...everything babynut does is somehow exceptional or fabulous. I find that irritating as well. She is who she is! And she won't even listen to me if I'm worried about something. Stop with all the pressure for perfection.

Mihl, I wonder if people who do this are just really insecure about their parenting skills. It's kinda funny, because a lot of this stuff doesn't really have anything to do with what the parents do....it just happens. Now, you can make things easier or harder with how you carry or position babies or whether you read to them, etc. but mostly I think it's the babies working hard.

That's an interesting point. I totally agree that it has nothing to do with what we as parents do. F. just does her thing and she knows what's best for her and when her muscles are ready, etc.

I'm so glad someone FINALLY spoke up about Leila's inadequacies. We've all been so worried about her, Tofulish! (Geez.)

Ezra never learned to crawl (he went right to walking at 10 months), and some people made such a big deal about it. Even after he was walking, people would say, "But can he CRAWL?!" and told us that we should get him checked out since he "missed such a serious milestone." Seriously? I'm just happy he figured out some sort of forward motion so that I don't have to cart him off to college in the Ergo!

Oh no, you should be really worried; I know a seventeen year old who never crawled and because of it the muscles in her arms get tired very easily.

Oh, he can't pick up anything with his arms! They're like two pale, wet noodles hanging off his body! I always contributed this to the fact he's vegan, but this makes SO much more sense!

I was joking about worrying, but I do know a couple with a seventeen year old daughter. They teach sword fighting and sometimes the daughter comes along to practise, but she only drills or fights for short periods and then goes on about how she never crawled as a baby so has weak wrists/arms. Her parents say it as well. I never really understood how that would work, but even if it is the case it doesn't seem to affect her daily life or wellbeing and no one would describe her as disabled.

Also, when my brother was small my mum worried that there must be something wrong with him because he didn't roll over or sit up or crawl or something, but when he was ready he started walking and running and balancing on furniture and jumping around fighting imaginary monsters with noticeable grace, so there never was anything to worry about.

I'm sure there are lots of things babies do which help develop their arms, not just crawl.

_________________An unprocessed chicken is walking around and clucking to itself. And yes, I think they're healthier that way too. - Tofulish

We kept our 2002 Prizm (essentially congruent to a Corolla), actually, despite buying our giant* SUV, Maersk, and though my husband mostly drives it every day because we keep the car seat in Maersk, when I do drive it I am like WOW, you can see EVERYTHING around you! This car rules! So keep rocking that Corolla as long as it works for you, Tofu.. we probably still would just have the Prizm if we didn't do so many car trips. Neither of us commutes by car.

I have to say I'm a little surprised by the prices of the cars some people drive now that I know more about SUVs (we looked at ALL of them, not ruling anything out based on price in the initial search), but most people spend a lot more time in their cars, so whatever. And we're military too so basically at equivalent ranks we know what people are making. I'd say there's a 50/50 split among the boat's leadership among people driving 10+ year old "sensible" sedans and those driving luxury brands. People just prioritize differently. Personally we are trying to save as much as we can to do something crazy when my husband retires like take a year off to travel, so right now that beats out luxury cars. I feel very comfortable and not like I am sacrificing at all, but I'm sure my mother-in-law looks at the gated McMansion and BMWs that my brother and sister in law have and thinks they're doing a lot better. I expect that if you looked at our savings and what we owe you would find differently. Plus we're just not willing to live over an hour's drive out into the suburbs, which probably makes the biggest impact and explains what my MIL called our "little house."

Just a random thought about the car thing. My dad used to get company cars, a part of his job s to test drive and review the cars as they came out, and sometime prior to release. He would have each car for 2-3 months and then get a new car. It s great for my family because we didn't have to pay for it, or insurance or gas. The one clincher, to be in the program my mom had to get a new car every two years. It was worth it to them to always have one car payment, and on that car since it was new, you never had to worry about maintenance beyond oil changes and also have another new car that we paid nothing on. I am sure people in our neighborhood probably had no idea how we afforded a new car every 3 months. Sometimes we had corvettes and sometimes we had chevettes, he had to drive them all. We also traded in our 2010 car for a brand new one recently to get better gas mileage and to get a car we both actually like. Nate is commuting more now. We are a one car family and our other vehicle is a bike.

Here is my actual random thing. Grey picked out his first lovey today. Well, he picked it out a while ago it I finally bought it today. It is a stuffed animal Gandhi.